Petition to Landmark the S.W. Bowne Grain Storehouse Building

Please read the story below and consider signing this important petition.
Please share this as well!
Thank you.
CG CORD

https://act.myngp.com/Forms/-4499311324654466048

On June 14, 2018, under the cover of night, the S.W. Bowne Grain Storehouse was set ablaze. This two alarm fire, fought from land and water, arrived at the same time as efforts to landmark the structure were advancing. The day prior, neighborhood advocates met with Councilmember Carlos Menchaca to discuss advancing landmark designation after the community discovered--and halted--illegal destruction of the building's roof structure. Sadly, the roof was ravaged by the fire shortly after. CM Menchaca, who fully supports landmarking of the building, condemned the fire as "highly suspicious." 

Attention toward this iconic structure recently has been raised as a part of a larger community effort by the Gowanus Landmarking Coalition to secure landmark protection for a collection of notable buildings in Gowanus in advance of the Department of City Planning's proposed upzoning of the neighborhood. As a result of the Coalition's efforts to emphasize the historic and cultural significance of many buildings in the area, the S.W. Bowne was highlighted in a photo essay a few weeks prior to the fire. 

Historical significance

The 1886 S.W. Bowne Grain Storehouse is a rare remnant of what once characterized the Brooklyn waterfront. By the mid-19th century, the scarcity of space in lower Manhattan for the storage of bulk commodities shifted commerce to undeveloped Brooklyn, the result of which was the birth of Brooklyn's industrial waterfront. From roughly 1850 through the 1880s, over 300 storehouses, similar to S.W. Bowne, erupted along Brooklyn's shores. So prolific were these structures--which began just south of the Brooklyn Bridge and continued to Red Hook--that the waterfront was known as the "Wall of Stores." The sole interruption of the presence of these buildings was located at Fulton Ferry, which was dominated by passenger ferry service between Brooklyn and Manhattan.

The storehouse building typology was created to store bulk raw materials, like grain, as opposed to warehouses which housed manufactured and/or finished products, or wares. Today, most of these storehouses have been lost along the waterfront, with a few surviving and thoughtfully adaptively reused. The S.W. Bowne Grain Storehouse is a tangible example of the burgeoning grain industry of the 19th century and a touchstone to the Erie Canal's impact on the economic growth of New York City. Its unusual gable-ended design and roof is a departure from other storehouses, which were usually flat-roofed. Despite the fire, S.W. Bowne retains a high degree of architectural integrity, including its original fire shutters and star-ended tensile tile rods, and still visually reads as a 19th century industrial giant. 

Other proposed landmarks on the list

Proposed for individual designation:

• Gowanus Flushing Tunnel Pumping House, 209 Douglass Street
• ASPCA Memorial Building and horse trough, 233 Butler Street
• Gowanus Station, 234 Butler Street
• R.G. Dun and Company Building, 239-57 Butler Street/206 Nevins Street
• Scranton and Lehigh Coal Company, 233 Nevins Street/236 Butler Street
• American Can Factory, 232 3rd Street
• Brooklyn Rapid Transit Powerhouse, 322 3rd Avenue
• S.W. Bowne Grain Storehouse, 595-611 Smith Street
• Union Street Bridge Control Tower
• Eureka Garage, 638-44 Degraw Street
• Lavender Lake, 383 Carroll Street
• National Packing Box Company, 543 Union Street
• Norge Sailmakers Building, 170 2nd Avenue
• The News Brooklyn Garage, 209-215 3rd Avenue
• T.H. Roulston, Inc. buildings, 70-124 9th Street
• Culver Viaduct, 9th Street over Gowanus Canal
• William H. Mobray Building, 400-04 3rd Avenue
• 4th Street Brewery and Icehouse Complex, 401-421 Bond Street
• The Green Building, 450-460 Union Street
• St. Agnes Roman Catholic Church, 419 Sackett Street
• Our Lady of Peace Roman Catholic Church Complex, 522 Carroll Street
• 505 Carroll Street
• Warehouse with decorative pavings, 129-131 8th Street
• Tile Works Building, 130 3rd Street
• Planet Mills, 376 President Street
• Industrial Complex, 530-550 President Street
• Flats building, 57 3rd Street
• Residence, 388 Hoyt Street
• Remnant Shanty, 101 4th Street

Proposed for scenic landmark designation:

• Belgian Block street-ends abutting Gowanus Canal

Proposed for historic district designation:

• A head-of-canal district comprised of the first five individual sites on this list
• 2nd Street two-story row houses, Carroll Gardens side of the Gowanus Canal
• 12th Street row houses, north side, between 3rd and 4th avenues